Double-acting dial indicator



Jan. 30, 1951 w. H. MYERS DOUBLE-ACTING DIAL INDICATOR Filed March 8, 1946 INVENTOR WILLIAM H. MYERS ATTORNEY mpl ,eqa ineiee iv ,range of the .rece iyer. i di a r h J tea-s indi at lo a v r.-. =Q 1? Wa l. of the... q .iY

.-. nv n n timi i -becom s .90 I19 a sc le .d s e sm s b comes undesirable 1n it iii-usua the driv r r mithe. o e ati n: i

,in t t uni aoi ia a inventi n prori e V n d-size. andwith a W decrea e ntl bil tigt e comprising a ,scale for i range o .t assoc at d.

1 also .provided a,.m9veable po nter s9 ass 1 with the. s ale t at. itmav-hetmQW.

.on the scalethe ad s ment 01t v. 11%.. 2

1. .densers of .thereceiven In order to reduce the degree ofmovement ot th e pointer, it is provided .-.tha the sca1e..i.tse.1, .-m v.be n9 .W h.reQ to .the, oi nter.

Fig 1 andshowing the Patented Jan. 30, 1951 inoonmrnci'mo DI LJNDICA'JIQ .William. H. Myers, Converse,. lnd., assignpr, by

e'sne assignments, to Fa rns 'w orth Research a corporation of Indiana Ii i errl aatiq iyle vh 8, iifia l- 52 1 4 Qlaims. (o1. e -124.1)

atesv generally to tuning inrticularly for ii inradiq receivers of hich bears a the; entire ftu'ning In der'flthat such" an isible to the joperator a; tuning indicator, t face,

t e re ei tf edea s v h t be, e paratively; large and v oe c'upij a, considerable proportionate area oi hev f ont -of radio,re ceiver. This is particular-1 rm r st d w ti e y fi e i Yin-ma es t ...stantie y eon n a -j e her v; th re ieQn ning scale.

' there is e eve n et n t e timing In. accordance wit provided a tuning indi Fig. g and also showing'. the tuning indicator and its control mech'anism.

" a tuning indication loud-speaker grill mounted a loud-speaker"iorreproducing received Referring 'to'tlie"drawings, there is provided in accordance with thisinvention, "a ra'dio'receiver including a front panel member H "wherein there is provided an aperture l2"for displaying There is also provided a [3 "behind which "may be signing. For indicating the 'trining'f'of the receiver there is providd'a' ihdveable' scare member 14 which in its preferred einbo'diment comprises" an endless flexible belt onlwhich is imprinted or otherwise disposed a" scale for showihg' thetuni'ng range of the receiver." Ass'ociated'withthe' scale member l4 is a 'moveable'pointer 'lS'whi'ch" is adapted'to be movedwith respect t the scale in a direction opposite to the'direction of movement .of the scale. Control more I6, Hand 18 are provided for adjusting the tuning, volume level and tone control, respectively, of the receiver."

For supporting the tuning indicator 'mechanism, there 'is provideda frame member I I9 (Fig. 3) which maybeattachedinany suitable 1 fashion either to the chassis 20 of the radio re- I c eiverbr to th frontipanel n thereof; For the I sakeof convenience in illustrating the invention,

frame member [9 is illustrated in ithe drawings as being attached to the panel ll. Torthe lower extremity 2! of frame member [9, there is moveabl y attached airollrM by means of a suitable pin 22. At the opposite side of the receiver, there isprovided asecond and-identical frame mem- [9 and roller 25 although the second member I9 isnotillustrated the drawings For supporting the lower ends of j the rollers24 and 25, there are provided frame members '26 through one end of whichproject the lower ends of pins H 22 and 23 (Fig. 3) for moveably supporting the ,For a better, und rsta di a-Qi.. he...inre i ob' c s t r eoi, a tsle et t l companyi e91. out. in t e r diq...reee ret.i u

Fig. 2 is a cross section taken on line of tuninainsliqato t e th itsltont q gmeenaiiis a .,...Fis-- .3 isiaicross l'seet nz tg-keh..qiiiioqimi lower ends of rollers Hand 25/ The frame members, 25 may be; attached to the chassis 20 of the radio receiver by welding or rivets, for

1 4 example.

the rollers 24 an In the preferred embodiment of this invention, the tuning indicator comprises the endless flexible member. l4 which extends between andaround s 2 w,h. re v me er '4 m y be moved in such fashion that the scale indications pass acrossthe aperture l2 in panel-1 I. As will be explained hereinafter, this -makes possible a silbstantialreduction in'the sizeof aperture l2. without any noticeable reduction'in the size of the scale indications marked on the flexible member. 55..

1 'As; an alternative, the scale mem er. .limamoqgpme a rigid pn ee 3 bearing the tuning scale and having connected thereto flexible control members for extending around the rollers 24 and 25.

The frame members 26 may be connected by a track or guide member 28, which is preferably rectangular in cross section as indicated in Fig. 3. There is provided in slidable relation with the track, a carriage 29 having the form indicated in Figs. 2 and 3 and being provided with a slot as illustrated in Fig. 3 whereby the carriage may be moved on track 28.

On the front portion of carriage 29, there is attached the pointer I which extends upwardly ,in front of the member l4 whereby the pointer is adapted to indicate, with respect to the scale, the adjustment of the tuning condensers of the radio receiver. On the rear of carriage 2% there is attached an upwardly extending member 31 to which may be fixed as at 32 the rear portion of the member l4 whereby, as the carriage moves, the member 14 may also be moved thereby. It is to be noted that by virtue of this arrangement, the frontal portion of member i4 is arranged to move in one direction while the pointer is arranged to move in the opposite direction. Thus, it is necessary that only a comparatively small portion of the member M be exposed to view from the front of the receiver.

For moving the carriage 29 there is provided a flexible connector 34 such, for example, as a cord which may be attached to an extension 35 of the member 3 I. There are provided a plurality of pulleys 31 on each of the frame members 26 and 28 for guiding the cord 34. For moving the carriage 29 it is provided that the shaft 39 which rotates the tuning condensers of the receiver may have the ends of cord 34 attached to collar 4Q fixed to shaft 39, so that, as the shaft 39 is rotated, cord 34 may move the carriage 29 on the track 28.

When the tuning knob i6 is operated in a clockwise direction, for example, the shaft 39 puts tension on the right hand portion of cord 34 (Fig. 2) and simultaneously unreels the other end of cord 34 whereby the carriage 29 moves to the right. This movement of carriage 29 moves the rear portion of member 14 to the right and the front portion of member I4 to the left. Thus the scale divisions on member M are moved to the left and successively exposed through aperture I2. Simultaneously with the movement of member l4, the pointer I5 is moved to the right to provide an indication of the adjustment of the tuning condensers in the receiver. Since the dial and the pointer are both moved during a tuning adjustment, it is obvious that only a relatively small portion of the dial need be exposed to view.

When it is desired to tune a receiver to a broadcast program which is on a relatively lower frequency, the tuning knob It may be rotated in a counter-clockwise direction so that the carriage 29 moves to the left. Accordingly, the scale member [4 moves to the right across aperture I 2 and pointer l5 moves to the left across aperture l2.

In its preferred embodiment, there is provided in accordance with this invention, a flexible endless scale member !4 but it will be readily understood that other forms of scale members may be utilized in accordance with the basic concept of this invention. For example, the scale member may comprise a linear non-flexible member which may be moved with respect to the aperture [2 in the front panel ll of the receiver. In conjunction with such a scale member there may be provided a pointer adapted to be moved in a direction opposite to the movement of the scale member. In this embodiment of the invention, it would merely be necessary to provide a loop in the cord 34 to one side of which may be attached the scale member and to the other side of which may be attached the pointer. Since the opposite sides of the loop in the cord would move in opposite directions, opposite directions of movement would be imparted to the scale and pointer.

From the foregoing description it is apparent that there is provided in accordance with this invention a tuning indicator which is especially adapted for use in smaller radio receivers, such as those adapted for use in automobiles. While the apparent size of the tuning dial is substantially reduced, the scale on the tuning indicator is not reduced whereby there is no sacrifice as to l gibility of the scale. Accor ingly, an automobile operator is enabled to observe the tuning of the radio.reeeiver without serious diversion of attention from his operational duties.

While there has been described what is at present considered the preferred embodiment of the invention, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the invention, and it is therefore aimed in the appended claims to cover all such changes and modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A tuning indicator for a radio receiver comprising a support, guide means mounted in said support, a movable scale member arranged on said guide means and comprising front and rear portions correlated so that upon movement of the scale the front portion is shifted in a direction opposite but to a degree equal to the rear portion, a movable indicator slidably mounted on said support for traversing the front portion of said scale member, means for connecting said movable indicator to the rear portion of said movable scale, a tuning shaft and driving means operatively connected between said shaft and the rear portion of said scale member to translate rotation of the tuning shaft into linear motion of one portion of said scale member for moving said scale member and said indicator in parallel planes relatively to one another.

2. A tuning indicator for a radio receiver comprising a frame, a pair of rollers spaced from one another in the same plane and supported in said frame,'a flexible endiess scale member extending around said rollers in frictional relationship therewith to form front and rear portions whereby a front portion of said scale member is presented for indicating the tuning of the radio receiver, a track member extending between said rollers and adjacent said scale member, a carriage operatively associated with said track for movement thereon, an indicating pointer supported on said carriage and extending in overlapping relation to the front portion of said scale member, means for connect'ng said carriage to the rear portion of said scale member, a tuning control shaft extending between said rollers and drive means connected between said shaft and said carriage for moving said carriage, said scale member and the pointer associated with said carriage.

3. A tuning indicator for a radio receiver comprising, a, linearly shiftable scale member for indicating the tuning of the radio receiver, an index member located in cooperative relation to said scale member and being mounted for slidable movement in a direction parallel to the movement of said scale member, a tuning control mechanism, primary driving means connecting said tuning control mechanism and said index member, and secondary driving means connecting said index member and said scale member, said primary driving means operating to produce linear motion of said index member under the said secondary driving means operating to produce linear motion of said scale member to an equal degree but opposite in direction to the movement of said index member.

4. A tuning indicator for a radio receiver that comprises a support, a pair of spaced rollers mounted upon said support freely rotatable about parallel axes, a flexible endless belt on said rollers bearin a scale upon an exposed portion thereof, a track mounted on said support extending in a direction within a plane intersecting the axes of rotation of said rollers and being parallel to said belt, indicating means slidably mounted on said track cooperating with the scale on said belt,

control of said tuning control mechanism and REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date Re. 19,079 Kollsman Feb. 13, 1934 Re. 21,419 Kollsman Apr. 9, 1940 1,655,891 Nystrom Apr. 10, 1928 1,809,509 Crossley et a1. June 9, 1931 1,937,996 Tichenor Dec. 5, 1933 2,171,129 Mahnken Aug. 29, 1939 

